Marx And Religion
Marx attributed the creation of religion to the domination of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie. He saw it as a product of what he called social alienation. He understood the entire existence of humanity as being “divided against itself by the social-class cleavages of society.” He therefore saw religion as a means to comfort the lower classes and keep them docile. In terms of capitalist societies he understood religion as a way to control labor by providing some kind of reward in the after life for living such an unbearable existence here on earth.
Marx thought that by removing industrial capitalism we could eliminate any comforting illusions religion had provided to the proletariat. This to me seems unlikely since religion is the product of broader human emotions. There are example of religion and spirituality in societies that had no large class structure. In small Native American tribes in which a real class system did not exist and resembled more of a commune style of......
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